Full Moon (flash fiction)

by Carol6 Comments
Full Moon by Carol 365 words The full moon had called her out to the forest tonight, as she knew it would. She could have resisted, it was always a choice, but why? She loved the freedom, the joy in running through the trees, the metallic taste of blood when she caught her prey. And she had a special prey in mind. She stretched feeling the burning start in her hands, blazing to her center. Pain ripped through her, familiar and intoxicating. Then the moment passed and she lie on the forest floor, panting, her white silk dress in tatters beside her. Slowly she rose, her silvery fur barely contrasting with the forest's shadows. Her ears perked at the sound of howls from the nearby hills, but she ignored them. She would not be running with the pack tonight. She headed south, her large paws soundless, and sniffed the air. Jake had made a mistake yesterday, talking at the bar about his fishing trip. He...
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Friday’s Tale: The Frog King by The Brothers Grimm

by Carol4 Comments
Image Source: Sur la Lune Fairy Tales I thought the Grimm version of "The Frog King" would be the familiar version of the fairy tale, and it is up to a point. The king's youngest, most beautiful daughter is playing with her golden ball beside a well. We already know that thing's are going to work out well in the end for her, don't we? The youngest, most beautiful child is inevitably bound for a happy ending in the Grimms' tales. The princess drops her ball into the well, and it sinks to the bottom. She cries and cries until a frog comes and offers to retrieve the ball but only if he is rewarded. The frog answered, "I do not care for thy clothes, thy pearls and jewels, or thy golden crown, but if thou wilt love me and let me be thy companion and play-fellow, and sit by thee at thy little table, and eat off thy little golden plate, and drink...
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Review: The Man in Lower Ten by Mary Roberts Rinehart

by Carol12 Comments
First published in 1906, The Man in Lower Ten was apparently the first detective novel to appear on American best seller lists. I have to admit that I had never heard of Mary Roberts Rinehart, the "American Agatha Christise," before this year's Vintage Mystery Challenge, which is a shame. This book is a fun who-dunnit, with some clever, amusing characters. What starts out at as a simple train ride for Lawrence Blakely soon turns disastrous. The attorney-at-law is hand delivering decisive documents in a criminal case, and finds himself on the other side of the law when he is mixed up in a murder. Someone is after Blakely and his papers, and he has to figure out who it is before he's arrested for the killing. There are just so many great pieces in the puzzle. We have a mix up in sleeping compartments, several mysterious women and a missing man, a train wreck, an amusing amateur detective. And of course the...
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